Greece's new left-wing finance minister says his government will not negotiate over the Greek bailout conditions with the "troika" team from the EU and IMF.

Yanis Varoufakis said he was rather seeking direct talks with eurozone leaders, to try to cancel more than half the money Greece owes.

He was speaking after meeting Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the eurozone group of finance ministers, in Athens.

Mr Dijsselbloem said Greece should stick to its reform commitments.

He said Greece and the Eurogroup had a "mutual interest in the further recovery of the Greek economy inside the eurozone" and warned against Athens acting unilaterally in its efforts to renegotiate its bailout.

Greece has endured tough budget cuts in return for its €240bn (£179bn; $270bn) bailout, agreed in 2010 with the "troika" - the European Commission, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank (ECB).

In Berlin, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the Greeks should abide by their commitments, adding: "There's no arguing with us about this and, what's more, we are difficult to blackmail."

The BBC's Mark Lowen in Athens writes:

The defiance from Athens was clear: no co-operation with the troika overseeing the bailout. The troika creditors are supposed to wrap up their latest review of Greek finances at the end of February, based on which they would dish out another €7bn of bailout money.

Athens needs the tranche to meet debt commitments later this year. But Mr Varoufakis says his government does not want the money and will not honour commitments made under a previous "toxic" programme.

If the cash is not released, Greece could in theory default on its debt within weeks. Emergency funding would then be cut off to Athens, potentially forcing it to print its own currency. But that doomsday scenario is still highly unlikely.

So much time and money has been invested in "saving" Greece over the past five years, and so much would be lost by a eurozone exit, that a compromise of sorts will probably be reached. But tough negotiations lie ahead - and it may come down to which side blinks first.

New agreement?

There was little warmth between the two men at the news conference, with Mr Dijsselbloem making a brusque exit.